U.S. files first charges in generic drug price-fixing probe
(Reuters) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it accused two former generic pharmaceutical executives of colluding with unnamed generic drugmakers to fix prices, the first criminal charges stemming from a sweeping two-year investigation.
The two men are in talks with the government about a plea agreement, according to a source close to the negotiations who was not authorized to discuss the matter.
The executives, Jeffrey Glazer and Jason Malek, were charged in Philadelphia with conspiring to fix the prices of an antibiotic, doxycycline hyclate, and to split up the market for glyburide, a diabetes drug, the Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
While DOJ did not disclose the name of the company the two men worked for, it said both worked at the same company. Lexis Nexis lists email contact information for both men at Heritage Pharmaceuticals.
A representative from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, based in Eatontown, New Jersey, was not immediately available for comment. Messrs. Glazer and Malek were not immediately reachable.
Glazer was contacted as the CEO of Heritage Pharmaceuticals by Congress more than two years ago when it opened its own investigation into drug pricing increases, according to a copy of the publicly available letter.
Other generic drugmakers have disclosed that they had been issued subpoenas in connection to the Justice probe or have been previously reported to have been included in the antitrust probe.
Shares of generic drugmakers including Mylan N.V., Endo International P.L.C. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. tumbled after Bloomberg first reported that charges had been filed and included those names.
